One would think that after Connecticut and six other states 18 months ago launched an investigating SiriusXM satellite radio company’s billing and consumer practices, the firm would clean up its act.

You would not know it from the complaints I and the Connecticut Attorney General’s office still receive.

Over the past year, Attorney General spokeswoman Susan Kinsman said, her department received about 100 complaints about the company.

I have had dozens, including two I received in the past few weeks.

“Last year my subscription was to expire,” Wendy Venoit of Wallingford wrote me. “They told me they would renew me two years for $99. Sounded like a good deal, until I received a ‘renewal notice’ in July 2011 saying that to renew for another year would cost $350.”

“I immediately called and said that I had a two year subscription for which I already paid. They confirmed that this was accurate and said to ignore the renewal notice,” she said.

That did not end the story. Last September she discovered that her credit card had been billed for the $350.

” I called and was told that I never had a two-year subscription. It was only a one year subscription with an automatic renewal. I disputed this and the charge. After talking with no less than four people (and being bounced around various departments), I said to please cancel my subscription.”

She was then transferred to another department where they apologized and promised to give her two free months of service, and remove her credit information from their system.

She relented. However in January she discovered that her card information had not been removed and she was again charged, this time for $13.95.

Their explanation astounded even Venoit.

Because they had refunded her the $350, the company could not erase her credit card information. And the two month complimentary subscription? No such a thing, it was an automatic subscription renewal she was told.

Unbelievably, she was again offered a refund and a two month free subscription, which she refused. I sent her complaint to Kinsman and to Patrick Reilly, Senior Vice President, Communications SiriusXM, who in the past had corrected all the issues of customers I had sent him. He offered to continue helping customers whose valid complaints I provide him.

Reilly offered no direct response to Venoit’s issues or the second one which you can read at the end of the column.

“We attempt to comply with all federal and state consumer laws, including laws applicable to billing continuous subscriptions. Subscribers are the lifeblood of our business. We also make considerable efforts to address complaints and concerns of our subscribers,” he told me.

The other interesting complaint I received this month came from Ariana Miller from the state of Washington who had read the other complaints on www.ctwatchdog.com.

“I am so not surprised to find all of these complaints that sound so familiar. I suppose I was lucky as I actually had a theft earlier this year that necessitated a new credit card so when my renewal came up, Sirius didn’t have a valid card to charge. Instead they started to call me,” she wrote.

Even after she said she wanted to cancel her service she received as many as 10 calls a day from the company claiming they were trying to “verify my information as a routine update to their system.”

“When I informed that person of my desire to cancel, the person would become rude and basically tell me again that I could try to cancel by sitting on hold. I am now waiting for the collection letter as I am now past my renewal date and the radio is still on. Even if I LOVED the radio service, out of principal, I would never do business with these scam artists again.”

The two complaints are similar to the thousands of complaints Attorneys General in Connecticut, Arizona, Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont and the District of Columbia had when they launched their joint investigation in 2010. The company disclosed, in required financial filings, that the investigation was focusing on “certain of our consumer practices. The investigation focuses on our practices relating to the cancellation of subscriptions; automatic renewal of subscriptions; charging, billing, collecting, and refunding or crediting of payments from consumers; and soliciting customers.”

The company also disclosed then that a “separate investigation into our consumer-related practices is being conducted by the Attorney General of the State of Florida. In addition, in September 2010, the Attorney General of the State of Missouri commenced an action against us regarding our telemarketing practices to residents of the State of Missouri.”

So in dealing with this company, make sure you NEVER use a debit card to make a payment, only a credit card that you can then challenge if you are charged improperly. And check you charges carefully.

Actually the best way to have a Sirius account is to pay monthly by check. Never give them a credit card. If you do pay by cc card, they will continue to add charges for things that you did not order to the card. You can challenge and put holds on it but they will then send you to a collection agency.

The only thing that works to “clear” your account and come to resolution with Sirius is to lodge a formal complaint with the NY Better Business Bureau – it has to be the New York office. For some reason this actually triggers someone from the corporate office to call you and help to resolve your issue.

I’ve been through it all with them I loved the service, but had to cancel my credit card (thereby eliminating thier ability to charge me), follow through with a formal complaint to NY BBB with documentation and negotiating, and finally have the service but only on a prepay monthly basis – they receive an actual paper check from me.

With the expiration of a new vehicle purchase free 6-month subscription, the problems began:
1. Issues with what Sirius said was a contract agreement – no contract agreement was made; numerous calls followed with a promise of a free extension. Did not materialize!
2. All attempts to contact the supervisor who made the promise fell on rude employees’ deaf ears regardless that I had dates/times/names and notes of our conversations. Was told no such person existed!
3. When questioning the charges for a renewal which did not refelct an advertised AAA discount, I was told my subscription would be realigned, my account would show my being a AAA member and the fee would be corrected. Instead my credit card was charged the “going rate” – no AAA discount.
4. All calls made, attempting to correct the billing, resulted in being directed to a Phillipines handler who when asked to be directed to someone in the United States, responded that they had no ability to reroute the call.
5. Again, it made no difference that I had dates/times/names/employee numbers and conversation notes – no adjustment would be made.
Dealing with Sirius is a disaster. What a representatives say are empty words. Letters to the company remain unanswered. Something not only seems less than Kosher about their billing practices but also unethical.

Worst company I have ever dealt with and we all wonder why there is such a scare about ID theft. Get this…..I bought a car in 2010 and purchased a PAID IN ADVANCE THREE YEAR contract with XM. In late 2011 I traded the car in on a 2012 car and call XM to have the THREE YEAR contract transferred to my new 2012 car. They SAID (TOTAL LIE I THINK) it was done and good to go. Three months later my radio is turned off. I call them and their response is that some lady who bought the 2010 car I traded in called in and had my account closed and refunded the remaining balance of the THREE YEAR contract to her credit card!!! FIRST problem, WHY did they let someone I don’t even know access my account? SECOND why did they credit HER? So while on this call I demanded that what she did be UNDONE and my service be turned back on. The XM service rep said no problem, we will have credit reversed and your THREE year contract will be reinstated and your account secured (which should have been all along) so no one else can call and make changes. Now just a month later I receive a letter stating my FREE TRIAL (that came with the car) is about to expire and they have no record of my THREE year contract. WHAT THE HELL?????

Purchased a lifetime subscription and they refuse to transfer it to the new car stating that the account was closed by the car dealer and does not exist. First two phone calls were cut off when I asked to speak to a supervisor; last one put me on hold for 45 min. and it was picked up only because I tried to check the call status from another phone. They took the money and changed all of the terms and conditions. Bait and switch, false advertising, worst customer service anywhere and they are still allowed to do business?

I bought a car in Jan 2011. Given the 3mos free trial. Paid for an annual subscription. Should be good til Apr 2012. Traded cars Oct 2011 and transferred service. Given another 3mos free. Now I’m good til Jul 2012, right? WRONG!!! Account zapped on Feb 22 for annual payment. Did the Live Chat thing, talked to customer service. NOTHING!!! If I hear “I see your point,But…” one more time.
Thinking of sending letter to auto manufacturing co to hault relationship with these crooks. Doesn’t look good for them either.

I became interested in subscribing to Sirius xm. But before I buy anything i do my homework and check into complaints against the company. From what I have read here, Sirius has lost me as a customer. I hope other would be subscribers read this and decide not to do business with Sirius. Possibly this will encourage them to change their crooked ways.

I signed up with xm for a lifetime subscription for a truck I bought in 2008. Come 2012 I get a bill for renewal. I called, spent 7 hours on the phone trying to straighten out their lies. I talked with people in Cairo and the phillipines, spent hours on hold.

I decided to just cancel as I would not pay any more since I paid for lifetime service.
They never sent any renewal notice, just started sending bills.

Told them to cancel and they agreed to delete $18 for few day of service. Again I paid for LIFETIME SERVICE.

well I started getting dozens of calls a week, luckiLy my caller I’d can block 100 numbers and I blocked all theirs. Now the keep sending bills every month.

No way will I pay. Love to go to court and sue them for breech of contract.

Yes there is a way to go after them for breach of privacy and billing practices. I am working on getting a class action going. I have contacted a major national firm for review. You may want to be part of this.

WOW! Dealing with sirrius/xm is unbelievable, just as described by all of the other poor souls that have had horrible experiences with them. You have to encounter it to understand and appreciate the true lack of interest in the customer.I tried to have my cc removed from my account because they were over charging it at renewal. All I wanted to do was be able to renew on line and select the service of my choice at a price I picked. Sirrius/XM said if they removed my cc they would have to send me a bill at a cost of nearly $3.00/bill. If I then order on-line, I would have to call customer service and ask to have the fee removed. There were no other options! So, since they could not do the the action I requested, I told them to cancel my account. This request sent them into a totally different realm of dealing with me, they made all sorts of last minute offers, all the while needing to keep my cc or to send bills to me. It took nearly 60 minutes, two long “on-hold” periods and two separate phone calls to cancel the account, or so they say (time will tell). I was transferred to two different people during two separate calls. On each of those occasions, I was transferred to a representative that got on the line and said they could not hear me and hung up (they “terminated the call”). What a joke and disgrace. Total lack of customer service and respect. Has to be one of, if not the worst, examples of misrepresentation and borderline fraud I have encountered. STAY AWAY!!

I just filed a complaint today with Md attorney general office about xm sirius radio
after my trail period last year i took a one year subscription telling the customer care man that i don’t want a automatic renewal of my service and when my year is up i will either let it drop or call back
so last few weeks i been getting these calls from them about add on and wanting to know if i want to continue service i told them to stop calling
so today i get call i ask rep what it take to get you to stop calling me about sales i am not interested he said i calling bring to get $274 for your radio use .
I said i am paid up thinking i am good till june , he said no it expire in march
i said i did not renew , then he says you have to call and cancel , so on to a supervisor , i am told that 3 bills have been sent to me and NO Bills have been sent
so i am told to pay the $274 i said cancel me out so it was $32.38 he the kicker
she gives me a conf number for payment cancelation but says i can’t send you a e or a paper saying that all is OK
i rather have the E since the paper never came only there junk mail which i open
i would recommend never sign up , i have talk to electronic stores that told me some night mare stuff there clients went through especially after the merge
SAY NO TO XM SIRUIS RADIO

I just got off the phone with SiriusXM for the 8th time! First, they wouldn’t remove my credit card number from their billing service. Then, when it was time for subscription cancellation, they would not cancel or turn off radio! East Asian customer service is terrible. Long hold times. No ability to do anything in a chat session. I cancelled ym subscription after 7 years–not because I don’t like having satellite radio (in fact, I love it), but because they infuriated me…….

When I said I would not pay prorated amount because they would not turn off radio on right date, they cancelled and zeroed out account–but, first offered me two free months to continue service. NO THANKS>

Yes, like all the other complaints here, our issue started with a unauthorized withdrawal on our debit card. They agree to refund the 97.85 and since It was placed on a debit card That was no longer valid, they agreed to refund it to my other Bank Debit Card.
Now that was 6 months ago, 30 plus calls, over 25 hours of phone conversations.
Not to mention faxes, call from my Banker, And me making calls to Visa America who laughed right away when I told them the name of the company I had the dispute with.
Researimg the Internet one site claims their is currently been 7000 plus current complaints!
Sirus XM. Claims they refunded my refund to a debit card that no longer exists but guess what? They cannot give me documention to prove it was refunded. When my banker, visa & myself explained it is impossible to do that, we have been called stupid. Four letter words, and that it is my issue. One representative told me “too bad too sad, there is nothing YOu can do!!”
I have never been ever treated with such disrespect in my life! I have a current complaint with Better Business on going, but was told by Corporate Sirus again they refunded to a Debit Card that does not exist and it is my problem again. When I asked for proff it was paid I was told they have to check with their legal department.
We need to come together with a Class Action Legal Suit not turn the other cheek on this!!

I’ll try to be brief, I’ve had LOTS of problems with Sirius/XM. First, they billed me for a renewal on a car I sold – I told them when I sold it. Next, the FIRST word I got from them about the expiration of service for for my wife’s car was a threatening phone call saying I was past due — And the rep quoted two different figures for renewal, but wasn’t sure which I “owed” for service I had not yet asked to continue. Then I got written notification that I was past due for a DIFFERENT subscription (1 year service came with new car) — again, I never asked to continue the service. I’ll be calling BBB and the Virginia AG.

Let’s take a moment to revel in my service shall we? First they refuse to switch my service between XM and Sirius whenever my lease is up, so I am constantly overpaying for services I cannot use. Then, they gave my money to another account, because your name stays attached to the radio, not the account number. So when you sell your car, your information is linked until someone else calls and changes it. So after I provided proof, and about 4 hours on the phone I was credited almost $200 of my service, that someone else got to enjoy for free. Then, they called back the next day saying I would be shut off if I didn’t pay TWO CENTS that was my new balance. Of course, you know where I told them to take their two cents. More recently, I keep getting bills for an account that supposedly no longer exists in their system. So what if I was on automatic payment? They would just try to take my money for this ghost account??? Also, might I mention that they always tried to ask me for a credit card number because “they couldn’t see the one I used.”. Very shady. Please be aware when you are dealing with this type of company. Supposedly I have been cancelled in all possible ways, we shall see…

First I will start by saying that I refused to submit my credit card and would only subscribe via mailed billing. They informed me I would be charged for this. I agreed. I received my annual bill today July 9 with a notice that I was PAST DUE. I called and asked when my initial bill was sent. They told me the computer prints out the invoice on the DUE DATE! And was mailed at that time. (Due date June 28) She said I had until July 12 before late FEES would be charged. I informed her that there would be no way that a payment sent today would be received by the 12th I received it the 9th !! she said she would credit me the late fee so I would not have to pay it. Fine…but isn’t this a deceptive practice unfairly charging customers late fees when you send the bills out late. She informed me that the computers can’t be changed. I asked to talk to a supervisor about this issue and after a wait she informed me that no one was available but she did find out information about the CUSTOMER AGREEMENT and that I should read it online. My translation… “We are allowed to overcharge and trick our customers and have accounted for it in our ‘fine print’ …extra unethical charges are more important to us than the customer.” Sounds like they can’t overcharge my credit card like they do others so now they are forcing LATE FEES on non- credit card customers. Oh… Since I am being charged for a paper bill shouldn’t I get one before my payment is due?!

I tried to purchase a “quarterly package” as I do every year for a boat. The very nice operator who sold me the package said that she would transfer me to another Department to have them remove the automatic renewal from the account. So she transferred me… However, they would not allow me to cancel the automatic renewal. Since I knew I would probably forget to call back, and since I wont be boating in the Winter, I asked to speak to Management. The genius that I ended up speaking with (in their version of a Customer Retention Department) told me that it was standard practice these days… That if I had Netflix (found it amusing that he used a failing company for his example) or anything of the sort, that they all automatically renew. He kept saying I would have to call and cancel the auto renewal. I kept saying “this is the call to cancel the automatic renewal”. He informed me that I could not do it right away, it had to be within “a week or two” of the renewal date. So I cancelled the order for the boat, and the year round service for my car. They are obviously banking on folks forgetting to call in and cancel, so they can simply keep charging them until they remember to make the call. This is what no competition creates. This company should not be allowed to exist as is. The FCC should not have allowed them to merge. With these practices in place, this too will eventually fail.

Same story here. My kids purchased a 1 yr subscription for my husband as a gift which was paid in full. I received a bill for the “renewal”. I called and called and live chatted to no avail. Luckily the credit card I had paid with initially had been lost and cancelled so they can’t steal the money from me. Talk about screwing people!

I received notice that my 3-month trial period for Sirius/XM had been activated. Since I do not own any vehicles with satellite access, I called immediately. After being on hold for 10 minutes, a girl with a very thick foreign accent answered. I explained the situation to her, that I had cancelled service over 18 months ago and that it had been over a year since I owned the car in which I had the service. I also told her that I didn’t have any vehicles with satellite access. She kept talking over me, then said “are you sure you don’t have any vehicles?” to which I replied “Yes, I have 4 vehicles, but as I’ve already told you twice, none of them have radios with satellite accessibility.” She said “well maybe you don’t know you have it and accidentally activated it.” At this point I was already fuming and said “I’m intelligent enough to know whether the radios in my vehicles are satellite-ready and they aren’t.” She then said “Your Chrysler has it, no?” No – I sold my Chrysler over a year ago, and cancelled the S/XM service in it over 18 months ago. She said “well, it shows you reactivated.” At this point, I asked to speak with a supervisor. After being on hold for 10 minutes, she came back on the line and said “I transfer you to cancellation.” I told her I wanted to speak with a supervisor, and she told me she could only transfer me to the cancellation department. After another 10-15 minutes, the receiver was picked up and I heard someone laughing hysterically. After he settled down, he asked how he could help. I explained my problem to him (he kept trying to interrupt but I just kept telling him the problem). He said it wasn’t a big deal and that I wouldn’t be charged for it. He then said that their letters can be confusing to people who might not understand the wording and that there was a portion of the letter highlighted in yellow that stated there was no obligation after the trial period. I informed him that I had, in fact, read the entire letter, there was no area highlighted in yellow or any other color, and that the back of the letter stated – and I read it to him verbatim – that the subscription would be automatically renewed at the end of the trial period. He said “well, you’re just reading that part and not reading the other part that says it won’t be. I’m telling you right now that we don’t have any credit card information on file, so we can’t charge you.” I told him that one of the options stated that, if a credit card was not on file, I would be billed. He said “If that happens, just call and cancel it. No problem.” I told him it WAS a problem because I had not ordered the trial, I did not have the vehicle, had not had it since May 2011 and that I had cancelled the service before selling the car. He said “It’s really not a big deal. I’m removing your name from the account. If you get a bill – and I’m pretty sure you won’t – just call us and we will cancel it.” WHY SHOULD I NEED TO CALL AND CANCEL WHEN I DIDN’T EVEN ORDER IT!!! I then asked how on Earth it was reactivated without my permission. He said “Oh, it looks like the dealership that resold your car might have reactivated it for the new owner.” “So they were able to call and reactivate the service in my name??? That seems illegal.” “Well, I don’t know that for sure, but that’s what it looks like. Or maybe the new owners did it.” I then asked for the dealership’s name, and of course he didn’t have record of it. He also said it could have been a “computer glitch.” I reiterated that I wanted the service cancelled immediately and I wanted either a confirmation number or a cancellation notice. He told me that, since it was only a trial, he couldn’t really cancel. WHAT???!! I was about to explode at this point, and the guy was laughing throughout the whole conversation. I told him I did not want to receive a bill, call to cancel and be told I couldn’t cancel either because it was a yearly contract or that I would owe for whatever period lapsed between the time the new service started and I receive a bill. He said “Oh, don’t worry about that. It won’t affect your credit score. We tell people we turn them in, but we really don’t. We just try to scare them.” Really? I think that might be illegal, too. I told him again that I either wanted a cancellation number or something mailed to me. He said “Hold on and I’ll talk to the department that could possibly do that.” On hold for a few more minutes, then he said “Yeah, so, since I’m deleting your name from our records, I can’t send you anything like that. But that means you won’t get any more notices, either. I don’t care if you believe me, but it’s true.” I told him that, the only thing I know for sure is the information IN PRINT in the letter they sent me, and that, while I hope you are being truthful, I can only trust what’s in writing. We will see what happens, but if I receive a bill from Sirius/XM, I will be contacting the BBB and possibly a lawyer. It is absolutely ridiculous (unbelievable and scary) that someone could call in and reactivate service in my name which had been previously cancelled.

Read my complaint I just posted. My story is similar, except I bought a used car and traded it in over a year ago, but I am getting the same treatment. I am going after them. I have filed a complaint with the NY BBB, the Washington State Attorney General and the FTC. They have no right to our name and address. They are illegally accessing DMV records to get this info. One of your vechicles may have had their service at one time, but you may not own it anymore. Some new cars come with their so called free trial, and not they are breaching privacy rights by searching DMV records to give more people the so called free trial. I am trying to get a class action going, you may want to be a part of it.
Thanks
Randal Hallbouncegump@gmail.com
360-721-6912

My experience was after buying a brand new Volkswagen, I was bombarded with reminders via email and US MAIL telling me that I had better renew the subscription or I would be cut off and have to pay a reconnect fee.

Calling the SiriusXM customer line, no one knew how to start the subscription on the day my trial subscription was suppose to expire. They told me I had to forfeit the remaining weeks of trial service.

Each time I called in the customer service representative in a different country. I could not understand any of these reps.

Two weeks before the trial period was to expire I called in and got a representative in India. I wanted to be charged monthly. She took it upon herself to charge my credit card over $200 for a two year subscription, without asking me. I only find out when I get my credit card statement.

It took 9 phone calls before I got a customer service representative in the USA. That nice representative explained what the woman in India did to my account. I never agreed to any of the things the woman in India did.

To correct these problems, all SiriusXM needs to do is close all call centers that are not in North America and hire workers who speak North American English.

I have had a nightmare time with SiriusXM radio. I
purchase a new truck every two years and my account came up for renewal so I was billed by Sirius and I paid for a years subscription. One month later I purchased a new truck. I contacted Sirius and they said they would put a hold on the old account and after my new account trial period expired they would
transfer the balance of the old account to this new
account. That never transpired and so later I get another bill in the mail. Iwrote a check and paid the
bill. Soon I get another bill in the mail, so I contact Sirius. They inform me that my old account
that was supposed to be on hold, was not. Who ever
purchased my old truck was enjoying Sirius that I had paid for.I wrote another check for my new service and now after numerous Emails and phone calls
my problem has not been addressed. Now Sirius has turned off my service after I sent another check to them. I want no more to do with Sirius. They do NOT
have any customer service dept. and their Accont Resolutions dept. is a real joke. I hope many more people check out Sirius before they get taken by them!!

I have never been nor will I ever be a customer of Sirius. I purchase a USED car about 3 years ago thru auction, I have since traded the car in over a year ago, Currently I have complaints with the NY BBB and Washington State Attorney Generals office and the FTC as Sirius sent me a so called free trial a couple of weeks ago. This used car, which I have not owned for over a year used to hav Sirius service from whoever owned the car when purchased as new in 2006. Even after all this, on 8/9/12 an “IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED ” letter from them that the free trial ends on 8/15 and if I do not call to cancel they will automatically bill me. Under the BBB complaint, I stated SiriusXM breached my privacy rights, as they have no right to my name and address, as I was never a customer of theirs. They claim protection under the Shelby Act and that they hired a third party to access DMV records. This is interesting, since the Shelby Act is suppose to protect consumers and the public from such breaches of privacy, and recent court cases have found companies liable for damages for such breaches (11th appeal court Florida and other cases) states getting private information like this is illegal and damages will be awarded even if no monetary damage is shown to have occurred for such breach of privacy. I am pursuing my complaints with NY BBB (SiriusXM headquarters location) and FTC and Washington State Attorney General’s office. I am also seeking legal advise for a possible law suit or class action suit. Any ideas for this please send me a reply, I have some inquiries pending now. (bouncegump@gmail.com) Thanks, Randal

I too am considering a class action lawsuit against Sirius for taking money out of my account without my permisson. I am currently trying to obtain a refund with little to no success….the only thing that I am getting from them is lip service and a bunch of lies. I have filed a complaint with BBB in New York and Consumer Protection. My next stop is an attorney.

Debora,
This company has no ethics at all. Bring a small claims action to them. Have them served with a complaint at the following locations: Registered Agent: CT CORPORATION, 111 8TH aVE 13TH fLOOR, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10011 AND 2. Patrick L. Donnelly Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Sirius XM Radio Inc. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th Floor, New York, New York 10020 phone 212-584-5100 and also have them served at RL&F Service Corp, Registered Agent, Sirius XM Radio Inc. PO Box 551, Wilmington DE 19801

Its sad with all these complaints that the story with sirius continues today….I’ve managed to cancel by subscription (that was “automatically renewed” at a much higher rate than I paid before)…I was even sucked in to trying it again for 5 months for only 25 bucks, but then after spending 4 hours on the phone with customer service…we couldn’t get my radio to work again…I cancelled the 5 month subscription and received a credit posted to my AMEX card. Now they call me 2 or 3 times a week trying to get me to signup for service again. I hope somebody buys the company and hires all NEW customer service people…cause until that happens I will NEVER be a Sirius customer again.

I wish I had known this 3 years ago when I traded cars. All the info was changed to my new car (I listened to them make all the changes and get all the numbers to establish my acct. to the new car. Since that time, I’ve traded again… went through the same thing. That was fine, too.

Yesterday, I found that I have been paying Sirius for the 1st car that I traded 3 years ago. I had to call them 5 times in a row because we kept getting ‘disconnected’. By my 5th call, I was beyond unhappy! Talked with a very rude young girl. She said that all they would do was pay $147.00 since I re-up’d in August! I HAVE NOT OWNED THAT CAR IN 3 YEARS!

Is there any other internet radio other than SirusXM that I can use in my car? I love hearing the news, but I’ve also reached my breaking point with Sirius. They must have worked a deal with Obama! AND she didn’t cancel the acct that I’ve had for these 3 years, so I now have to call back!

I bought a lifetime subscription with Sirius in 2006 when I purchased a new truck. I wrecked my truck and damaged the radio at the end of August of this year. I purchased a new truck and received it today. I called to have my Sirius subscription transferred to the new truck. They told me that because the radio in my truck is an XM radio and not a Sirius radio, that for me to get my Sirius stations, I would have to “upgrade” to the Sirius Premier Package, otherwise I could not get the Sirius channels. This upgrade would entail a monthly charge. I asked them why I had to pay extra for a service that I had already paid for, and why my radio could not receive Sirius signals unless I was paying the upgrade? I told them they needed to give me the upgrade for free. When he told me that they would not, I told him I wanted to speak to a supervisor. After 10 minutes he came back and said his supervisor was in a meeting. After being on the phone for a total of 58 minutes he came back on to tell me that they would transfer my service for free, but they could only give me XM service, because my radio was only made to receive XM signals and not Sirius. He suggested that I buy a Sirius radio to replace the new one in my truck. Then after all that wait, he told me that he could not swap it out as XM has a contract with the dealership and that doing so would cause XM to get sued. He told me to come back in January of 2013. He said that he will note it in my file, wave the $75.00 fee, and I can switch it over next year. I guess we will see. That is an hour of my life I will never get back. I am thinking about getting an Internet hotspot for my truck and just forgetting about Sirius.

Apparently they are now phishing for new customers! I received an email at my work address saying “Immediate Action Required – Verification of Email Address Needed”. It also included a link to unsubscribe, and one to update account information. I have never had an account with them. I have no interest in Sirius radio. In fact, I have never even looked at their website! I marked it as spam.

I think they must be pushing. I’ve never had any account with Siriusxm and yet I received the below. What would happen if I clicked to say I received this email by mistake?

Thank you for purchasing a SiriusXM subscription. A summary of your activity for 03/22/2014 is below.

Account Details

SiriusXM Account Number *******0513

SiriusXM Username Ls6A3Iph

Radio ID/ESN KD48U2HL

Internet Radio Username Ls6A3Iph

Today’s Purchase Details

Your new plan will begin on 06/17/2014.

Package Subscription Term Charges

XM All Access (1 Year) 06/17/2014 – 06/17/2015* $199.00

U.S. Music Royalty Fee $19.64

Total Charges $218.64

Charges shown above may have been prorated to align with your billing cycle. Additional adjustments made to your account after this purchase will not be reflected on this statement.

Please note that change to the number of radios or the type of plan or packages on your account, or changes to our subscription rates, fees or your local/state tax rates could change the amount of these and any other future charges.

An invoice will be sent to you for these future charges on 06/17/2014. As a reminder, all invoices are subject to an invoice administration fee, except where prohibited. The invoice administration fee is currently $2.00 per invoice.

*IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Your subscription service(s) will automatically renew on the date(s) above for additional periods of the same length as the Plan(s) shown above at the rates in effect at the time of renewal until you call us at 1-866-687-4213 to cancel. See our Customer Agreement for complete terms.

To manage your account online, 24/7 at your convenience, visit siriusxm.com/myaccount. If you have a question about this information, please call Listener Care at 1-866-687-4213 or Chat Now with a member of our support team.

If you feel that you’ve received this email by mistake and that you are not the intended recipient, click here.

I received a letter explaining how to extend service beyond the initial 3-month trial. However I did not buy or ever own the specified car. I called Sirius and they deleted all of my information. Has anyone had a similar experience? I am trying to figure out if this is a random event or identity theft related.

Renewed online and it took a while to find a button for one time payment, did and renewed then wanted to add internet and couldn’t find one time payment so I called. Women with thick foreign accent informs me that all online billing is automatically renewed. I told her that then they better fix their web site and they are mis-informing or better yet are intentionally mis-informing and tricking folks into automatic renewal. I got to a supervisor with a thicker accent and told him to cancel both radios because of what they are doing. He claims he put a cancelation on my one year contract. I went and read the contract and all it does is explain an automatic renewal even if you pay with a check they will automatically renew by using your routing number to automatic renew by wire transfer. They force you to check the box that you have read the contract even if you check the one time payment. I’m dropping the rest of my radios and will drop this one next year. Back to regular airwaves and bluetooth iPad, iPod or Android, have plenty of stuff to listen to. I am filling a complaint with the better business bureau and US Attorney Generals office.

I agree with most of the above. Dealing with them on billing is a nightmare. Nevere give them a credit card as they will continue to bill them and the getting your funds back from the credit card company is not that easy. I paid for one of my cars till the end of the lease, they wanted to double charge me, I said no, and theu shut off the radio. Now, I have a similar thing going with another car. Started with 4 radios, down to two, and headed for none. It’s a shame, as we all love the service itself.

I am being billed quarterly and am unable to cancel my account because “They cant find an account with the number I am providing, and the ESN I am providing is not activated”…So somehow they have no account for me, but manage to take $60 on my credit card every 3 months…

I have had nothing but total frustration with sirissxm satellite radio since i purchased a new chrysler several years ago. They are competely and totally incapable of doing business with the American public. Don’t even think of doing business with them. They are a ruthless company which doesn’t care if you like their radio system or not. They have lost my account becase of the many phone calls I have to make and more then one letter I hve had tyo write to their Corporate Headquarters and legal staff!

I’ve had enough of this scamming company and want to SUE their doors closed.
I also bought a new vehicle that supplied me with a free trial before buying. I liked it for two years. I was sent a billing statement those two years and wrote a check for it both times.
The third year came along and a billing statement. I trashed it and so they got no check.
But they took it on themselves to do an electronic withdrawal (without my approval) for $159.
I had no service on my radio and they refuse to refund my money.
I’m going everywhere I can spread the word against this company so they lose and close.
IS THERE AN ATTORNEY GATHERING ALL OF US FOR A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT ON THESE THIEVES?
I want in on it. I still have all my proof and the gentleman’s (Joel) name and number I talked with.
I have a lot more info against this SORRY company that is worth the suit.
It would have been much cheaper to just refund my money but now it going to cost much more.
Feel free to email me and I’ll be glad to tell it all.
BEWARE…PLASTIC IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO STEAL MONEY…THE DO ELECTRONIC BANK DRAFTS TOO

I’ve had enough of this scamming company and want to SUE their doors closed.
I also bought a new vehicle that supplied me with a free trial before buying. I liked it for two years. I was sent a billing statement those two years and wrote a check for it both times.
The third year came along and a billing statement. I trashed it and so they got no check.
But they took it on themselves to do an electronic withdrawal (without my approval) for $159.
I had no service on my radio and they refuse to refund my money.
I’m going everywhere I can spread the word against this company so they lose and close.
IS THERE AN ATTORNEY GATHERING ALL OF US FOR A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT ON THESE THIEVES?
I want in on it. I still have all my proof and the gentleman’s (Joel) name and number I talked with.
I have a lot more info against this SORRY company that is worth the suit.
It would have been much cheaper to just refund my money but now it going to cost much more.
Feel free to email me and I’ll be glad to tell it all.
BEWARE…PLASTIC IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO STEAL MONEY…THEY DO ELECTRONIC BANK DRAFTS TOO

I had a three year prepaid contract on my old vehicle beginning July 2012. In September I traded in the vehicle. On the new vehicle I was suppose to recieve three months free Sirius XM radio. I called to transfer the service the day after the new vehicle was purchased. I was assured that the three months would be free and that my new contract would not expire until January 2015. In December 2012 I recieved a bill for $176.28. I called to complain and was told that I was refunded the time left on my contract and was being charge for the new contract expiring in July 2015. They finally ended up redoing my account and they still wanted $24 to cover the new contract to July 2015 until I told them I was looking on the internet and discovered many complaints against their billing practices. The Supervisor magically waived the $24 charge but I still was not given the three months I was suppose to get for free. I don’t feel like arguing anymore. I just will not renew my contract on both my car and my husband’s car when it comes due in 2015. I’m sad because I like the radio stations on Sirius XM. Hopefully, I’ll find another company with better integrity between now and then.

Terrible company, I have had XM since 2005- I am from Oklahoma. I traded in my truck in 2010, cancelled my account for the 2005 and transferred services to my new 2010.Just recently I realized that I had been charged on my credit card for my XM. I have always paid my mail. So i went on the web site to take my infomrtion off, but I was unable to take off my CC information (some type of error was displayed)so I changed the expiration date of the cc on file to 1/13. Needless to say I didn’t send in my XM by mail so yesterday i received 2 past due statements in the mail from XM. I called the representatives no help…They kept telling me they couldn’t find the account..1 hour later they finally agreed and realized what i had been saying “That you have been charging me for 2 XM accounts. They never cancelled my 2005 subscription but continued to charge me for my 2010 truck. They could only offer me a refund of $97.00. I said “Really” so I told them to make sure they cancel both of the services and i am done, I am very disappointed. I said i bet this happens a lot because you could care less about what i am saying… he said NO this is just the 2nd but reading this website this is a practice they live by… You can’t trust anyone to do their job anymore just SAD.

I have had sirus raido for a long time and my wife pays the bills so I did not find out that I was paying for a raido I cancled 3 years ago and the one in a truck I sold 1 year ago now im trying to get a bundle for my 2 new cars and I cant get a straight answer ill try 1 more time then if it is not corrected I will not pay a dime my email address is here if sirus don’t correct this problem bey bey

Am having issues with SiriusXM as I write this post. Bought a used vehicle that had free preview service from SiriusXM for 3 months. At the end of that time we had decided to try it for another year so we paid for the one year service by check. When the preview service ran out our radio went dead so I called SiriusXM to see what was wrong. They told me they had not received payment. But our bank statement showed they had already cashed the check. After telling them this they mysteriously found the payment information and turned our service back on. Now the year is up and they automatically renewed my service so I called them up and asked them why I was getting billed they said that auto renewal was in the contract that I had signed unless I called to cancel the service. So I told them to cancel my service and I didn’t believe I owed any money. The rep told that wasn’t his problem and transferred me. This time I got the guys name, Paul he gave no ID#, and I repeated the same to him. So he canceled my account and told me that I still would owe for the month. I told him I had a problem with that and would file a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General about SiriusXM business practices so he said he would waver the past month and my balance would be $0. After I hung up with Paul I called right back to see if he really had canceled my account and what my balance would be. The next customer service rep verified that the account was closed and there was $0 balance due. I was so upset with them that I went ahead and filed a complaint with the Missouri Attorney Generals office anyway to look into SiriusXM radio business practices. The next day I get a robo call from SiriusXM saying that my account was past due so I called SiriusXM again and asked to verify that my account was closed and that my balance was $0 and they confirmed it. So I asked why I was getting calls from them saying my account was past due. They assured me that it wouldn’t happen again. Later I looked up on the web if SiriusXM had any complaint about them and what I read made me even more suspicious. So I looked up their U.S. Office number and found one in Kentucky, when I called that number I receive a fax tone. I found another number in a forum (212-584-5100) and it said that when the person answered to ask for some one in the U.S.. I was transferred to a James ID #6010 and discussed with him the problem I was having and that I had already file a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General office. He was very polite and verified that my account had been canceled and there was zero balanced due. Just last Saturday I received in the mail a past due notice from SiriusXM radio so I immediately called SiriusXm this time I asked for a supervisor, the person that answered did everything she could to talk me out of talking to the supervisor. I finally had to tell her that I wanted to talk to a supervisor and that was she needed to know. I sat on hold for a while until an Oliver took the call his ID#321AB. I asked him to verify my account, he said it had been canceled and there was zero balance due. So I asked him then why did I get a past due notice. He told me that the system did not have time to catch up with thye changes and he reassured me that I would no longer be receiving any more past due notices. I asked him ‘are you sure’ He responded with he was 110% sure. I did not trust him so I called James #6010 at Corporate Customer Relations back and asked him to reverify my account had been canceled, he said it was with zero balance due. Then I asked him why had I received the past due notice. He reassured me that it wouldn’t happen again. I told him if it does I will be contacting the Missouri Attorney Generals office again and add to my original complaint about them

I have documented every call with SiriusXM and every time I get a call or a notice I call them back to verify that my account is still canceled and has zero balance.

Sirus radio charged my debit card they had on file for $194.00. This was done without prior authorization. I was assured before giving my dc information that I would be notified before any charges were made against it. The $194 put me into the negative in my account. I was not able to cover my other outstanding charges. I incurred over $300 in bank fees for insufficient funds. So I am in the hole almost $500 due to their error. Sirus has done nothing to date for reimbursing me the $194. I keep being told it is pending. In the past week I have spoken to no less than 10 people, of which, each one has a different story as to how my issue can or will be resolved. I filled out the survey sent from corporate and explained my aggravation. I received a call from their “Customer Advocacy” group. I Spoke with the manager and was told the matter would be cleared up in a day. Still nothing! Sirus has to be the worst company for customer service. I have canceled and will NEVER be a customer again… Buyer beware!!! Please let me know if there is any other way to get some attention. Thanks

This company is completely unreal. I just bought a new car, came with 4 months free, I have no plan on ever using it no need, they robo call my work number 2 to 3 times a day. I have called them 3 times asking them to remove my work number and put on do not call, with no luck what so ever they are complete IDIOTS! Worst company I have ever had to deal with!

I think I finally got this service cancelled. After I was told I would not have to pay for an “Invoice” charge, imagine expecting them charging me me so they could send me a bill! Well it took several calls and only one department can cancel your account. That poor girl must be worn to a frazzle. Bottom line this is the worst company with call centers in the Philippines and who knows where and a management group that hides behind poorly trained personnel and still they have the nerve to send me mailings for only $4.00 a month for 6 months. I would not be their customer if it were free. Time to get our Texas attorney general involved.

I will never, ever, ever use Sirius XM again. They were told to cut off my account and they did not. Instead they billed my credit card then called my office 2-3 times a day to harass me. There was nothing I could to do end this other than pay the $19.35 balance they claimed I owed to get them to stop. Of course, I plan to call my credit card company and file a protest. This company is dishonest and they deserve whatever they have coming to them.

I have had the same issues with SiriusXM and have vowed never to use them again.

I paid for a years’ subscription and canceled a couple of hours later since the service was not what I signed up for, and they were trying to sell me something I did not want.

That was 4 months ago and i’m still waiting for my refund. I have spoken to over 20 people at customer service and everyone I speak to tells me the same story including a supervisor. I should receive the check in 3 to 5 days. After the 3 to 5 days are over and I call, the story is a variation of the same.

This is the same company who charged my cc without my permission after I had already paid my renewal and it took a year for them to reimburse the money.

I am so frustrated with them and feel like I have no recourse since they tell me whatever they without any repercussions.

I will gladly join any class action to let them know they can’t just steal from people.

I receievd a company car with SiriusXM loaded for free for the first 6 months. Inside the glove compartment was a card offering a discount if I were willing to renew my subscription for one year. I called and renewed over the phone by using my personal credit card. Today, I saw that my account showed as “unsubscribed customer”. Four phone calls later (to surly, condescending “supervisors”) they offered to renew me at a rate that is HIGHER than the one for new clients. Classic bait/switch-fraud. Boycott Sirius!

Spent enough money on XM over the last 3 years – called in today, had a discussion with a great rep, talked about putting me on a 2 year plan for $200. Made the decision to get my Jason Ellis, Pearl Jam Radio, Opie & Anthony, Ron & Fez, Classic Rewind etc etc… all the stuff I enjoyed listening to, elsewhere. I’m putting my $$ to better use than XM now and I’m happy I chose to do so. So long XM; I’ll be fine without you.

Second time in three months they have charged my debit card without notice. The last time (July 2013) I was charged 101.13, 48.19, and 1.00, all on the same day, with no explanation. I was refunded most of it and assured that my CC info would be taken off my account I wsa told I would be notified of a balance either by mail or email from here on out. Yesterday, I was billed 48.91. I called, from work, and was on the phone for over an hour. I got a BS excuse for the charge, no explanation for the CC being on file, and only after an hour of argument got the charges reversed.
I love this product, but it is not worth dealing with all this crap, so I canceled.

Just got off the phone with a serious Sirius issue. Got on line to see if others had the same problems I had with billing. And sure enough — thousands of complaints.

I found out they were ripping me off when I purchased a new Ford Focus with a free 6 months of Sirius radio provided. Since I already had the service, I called to add it to what I already had. I was told they would add the 6 months to my existing account which would end Feb 2014. I checked my account today (a week after buying the car) and found no record of the transaction, along with a $412.00 billing to my credit card last December which should have been $124.00.

I called and the rep named Cecille. She had no record of the conversation I had about transferring the trade in car’s plan. And I was not given the additional 6 months free plan from Ford.

When I thought about what was happening I realized that Sirius XM never provides a confirmation e mail or contract. They are lying and stealing from their customers and getting away with it. There are 3 years of complaints on line that have not been satisfactorily dealt with by the authorities.

Sirius needs to be made to provided clear contracts and payment info, fined, and possibly dealt a class action suit.

We had our go around with Sirius XM too, a bunch of malarkey if you ask us. The only way out for us was to block them completely from charging our bank, thankfully this well known bank immediately refunded our money that was taken out without our consent. Three month additional service for our trouble never happened. And bounced around from dept to dept you often wonder if these people just sit and laugh rather than offer the customer service we deserve…I feel this company should be piled high on the list of scam artists, just look at all the complaints from so many disgusted customers, it’s too bad but I will load I Heart and Pandora for free before EVER going back to THAT COMPANY!

I was quoted a specific dollar amount for lifetime membership which included a discount for an “add-on” but when i called later to do it i was told the discount didn’t apply to lifetime. Total BS. They lost a customer

So frustrated with XM’s awful service so I’ve posted this to several sites.

I tried several times to cancel my account by calling. Each time, when transferred to the “Cancel service special unit” I was told that “My computer system is not working” or “I cannot process your request at this time”. FOUR TIMES I attempted to do this with no results. The company kept calling daily to collect money. When I tried to pay the $20.81 balance and close the account, they would (of course) take my money, but not cancel – only extend the service and turn back on the radio so they could begin charging me again. DO NOT PROVIDE THEM WITH A CREDIT CARD.

I thought that paying for my radio service would eliminate having to listen to commercials – NOT SO! I heard more commercials on more channels than on standard radio at times. Not to mention a very limited music catalog which results in egregious repetition. Back to Pandora and Spotify via Bluetooth. DO NOT BOTHER WITH THIS CUMBERSOME AND CUSTOMER *UN*FRIENDLY SERVICE.

I called up to activate my free three month trial. Some idiot named Tyler (personal cell phone number 09-06-2366-5599, who knows where that’s located) would not activate my account without my cell phone or home phone number. I kept refusing to give it and he kept refusing to activate it.

So, I asked for his personal number – he gave it to me to prove a point that it’s not a big deal. I kept saying that I didn’t believe it was necessary to start an account and use my free three months. He refused. I said I would post an account of my treatment by SiriusXM on the net and since he said he didn’t care if I posted his personal number – there is it. Feel free to copy it, post it in other places and bombard him with intrusive offers and telemarketing.

What an absolutely terrible company. I would rather do without the free trial than ever give such a horrid company my personal information. My call lasted thirty two minutes until I simply had enough of their strong arm tactics.

Sirius XM satellite radio has $944.65 in fraudulent charges on my account.

$595.31 is for a subscription for a portable radio that I purchased in 2009. I have an invoice for the radio, but the radio was never activated (or even taken out of the box). There is NO subscription listed on the invoice, but they had my credit card and began charging me without my knowledge, linking it to my car’s account.

$349.34 is from a 2009 car that I no longer own, and haven’t owned since 4/2011. Sirius claims that I never called to cancel this subscription. I called to connect my new vehicle to Sirius and cancel the old one. They obviously received this call (because I was billed for the new radio) but they claim they have no record of it.

When I would see bills from Sirius on my credit card, I assumed it was for the current car’s subscription. These bills only appeared bi-annually, with no description attached, so they were easy to misunderstand.

I called customer support 3 times (1/13, 1/29 and 2/5) with no result. In fact during one 60 minute phone call (1/29), a supervisor named Edward promised to open an investigation and gave me a claim number. When I called to check the status of the claim, the ticket number given to me was BLANK.

I filed a report with the Better Business Bureau on 2/5 and received a phone call on 2/6 from Nancy, at the corporate level. She promised to open an investigation. In many ensuing phone calls, I requested copies of the notes on my account, which allegedly substantiated the charges. Nancy said that is was against corporate policy to provide these notes. I requested the notes 3 other times in writing, with no response.

On 2/20, I received a call from someone else at corporate headquarters who said he was taking over my case. He told me (again) that the subscription on the portable radio was renewed automatically, and that I never called to cancel the 2009 car. He also told me that Sirius would not supply my notes to me unless I subpoena them.

Is it legal for them to deny me the documentation that supports the charges to my account? It seems to be a bullying tactic on their part, to require me to go to court to get documentation which potentially proves I have no case to begin with.

I sincerely believe that they have no real documentation.

Can I take them to small claims court in my state (California)? They have an arbitration clause, which was very confusing.

@Lisa…I have been through all of this with Sirius XM as well. Copy and Print every transaction with them that you have. Use the Chat screen online when you view your account and print a transcript of the conversations you have with them there as well. Talking on the phone is useless as they lie to you anyway and they have Deniablity on their side unless you are recording the conversation which you must disclose at the onset of the conversation. Hold them to task and report them to the New York BBB as that is where they are headquartered.

They have not yet stolen any money from me but I am forwarned that they tend to do this. My problem with them is that they terminated the travel link service to my car. This was after the free six month trial and one year-long renewal. Befored the contract expired, they cut off my travel link, Turned it back on then did not include it when the service renewed. I attempted to find out from them what it would take to get the travel link back but none of their representatives would discuss the matter. Most of them did not seem to know what Travel Link is. Before it comes time for automatic renewal of the radio contract (which I don’t use), I will take pointed action to revoke their access to my credit card. If that doesn’t work, I will file a complaint with BBB (not that that helps) and a criminal complaint with the Federal Trades Commission .

Previously, as a condition of me renewing my subscription I instructed SiriusXM to remove my payment information and to remove me from the automatic re-billing list. They remembered to remove my payment information, but failed to remove
automatic re-billing of my subscription. I called on Friday, April 4, 2014, to cancel. They informed me soon I would receive a conformation email of confirmation. It’s April 8th, 2014, and I have not received a confirmation email.
This was my third day calling for a confirmation email. Crazy, I was informed someone will call me in two days to infirm me I will receive a confirmation email. I don’t want to receive a bill 3-6 months down the road stating I owe them money for another re-bill and threatening to place negative information
against my credit.

Have to agree that a major effort has to be made to make SiriusXM cleanup their billing practices. Last year they billed my credit card for an amount totally wrong from what was agreed to. I got it squared away after considerable effort. Today, June 26th, 2014 I got a notice that my service would be shut down if I did not make a payment. Fortunately I changed my credit card, knowing they had it on file. I checked online and discovered a charge for $51.00. My on line billing showed I was payed up till Jan 2015 and owed nothing. I contacted them and they removed the charge, apologizing for the error. If they would have had my credit card, I would have been billed for this absolutely false charge. Once more DO NOT ALLOW THEM ACCESS TO YOU CREIT CARD.

Im Sorry to hear all the issues with SiriusXM , Please note that SiriusXM Does Care about there customers and they are trying to do everything that they can do. I know lot are language barriers, Billing/Plan Issues, Wrong Account information.If there is anything that you need done , contact the company , they do read the letters and emails you send in. They have also created Specialty ques to help get this worked out for you. Give them time